Direct support professionals like Chris Luallen can take on a number of roles to care for people with disabilities, ranging anywhere from reminding them to take medication or helping to prepare a meal to providing total care.

But agencies across the nation that work to place direct support professionals are finding challenges staffing those positions, including in Cheatham County.

Donna Goodaker is the executive director of Progress Inc., a nonprofit agency that has helped adults with developmental disabilities throughout Middle Tennessee for more than four decades.

Two families founded Progress in 1971 when they sought independent living arrangements for their adult sons, the agency’s website states. It opened an office in Ashland City in the 1990s “having identified a shortfall of supports available to adults with intellectual disabilities in Cheatham County.”

Some professionals have specialized training, including as “companions,” who provide a particular kind of residential support. Progress employs around 300, about 90 percent of whom are people who provide direct support, Goodaker said.

That includes Luallen, who has worked with Jimmy in Cheatham County for more than 20 years.

What it's like to work as a direct support professional

Luallen, a companion, knew he wanted to work with people with disabilities 25 years ago. He was a substitute teacher and was placed in a special education classroom. He “loved it,” he recalled.

Now, he spends his days with Jimmy — a 64-year-old with a diagnosed mental illness — from 4 p.m. through the following morning and most weekends. Luallen said he gives Jimmy his medication, helps him brush his teeth, shave and get ready for the day.

“He’s usually rearing to go somewhere,” Luallen said of Jimmy. The two enjoy going into town to eat or see a movie before coming back home. “He likes to talk about his family and lots of other things…I’ll make dinner for him and we’ll spend the evening together.”

Luallen described the man he’s cared for for nearly 21 years as someone who loves to talk and has a big smile.

But that doesn’t mean the job doesn’t come with its set of challenges.

Unless he has some time off, Luallen typically works a 72-hour week. “It’s very difficult to have a life outside of work,” he said.

“It’s been really bad lately,” he continued of the direct support professionals staff shortage. He said the agency needs substitutes who can come in and work on weekends or during hours that direct support professionals need off.

He highlighted patience and flexibility as important qualities for the job and noted that the work can cater to different schedules.

“It really…can be very rewarding work for the right kind of person,” Luallen said. “I enjoy what I do.”

Looking for help

While flexibility is a good quality for an individual in this line of work, Progress Inc. is working to be flexible, too.

Goodaker said Progress has become “creative” in its recruitment and has taken a closer look at applicants seeking part-time employment, even eight to ten hours per week. Perhaps students needing flexible hours or retirees wanting part-time work could consider direct support, she suggested.

Goodaker said Progress would likely have to hire about 20 more people in that flexible sub-staff category to feel comfortable with its staffing level.

In Cheatham County, it would be ideal to hire at least one more companion — like Luallen — and some substitutes. But the Ashland City and Pleasant View area “is our single toughest staffing pocket right now,” Goodaker said. “I don’t know exactly what that’s about.”

Goodaker said although “we’re grateful” for Tennessee’s economy — “if you want a job, you have a job” — that means many people aren’t looking for work at the moment, which declines the applicant pool for agencies like Progress searching for direct support professionals.

Until they can find additional staffers, the shortage takes a toll on the direct support professionals and on their managers, Goodaker said. Some workers don’t always take time off from a job in which “you give a lot of yourself…the work that we do takes an emotional toll as well. It’s important for people to be able to have some time for themselves.”

And “strictly from a business perspective, there’s an overtime issue,” Goodaker said.

She explained that one reason staff is overworked is the importance of trusting a substitute to care for an individual that has “becomes in many ways like a family” member. There’s emotional expense that comes with the emotional payoff.

“If they don’t have that kind of substaff they can really feel comfortable with…they just don’t take time off and that’s not good,” Goodaker said.

Progress Inc.’s hiring information lists part- and full-time positions at $10.50 to $13.50 per hour, depending on the position and qualifications. It also notes flexible scheduling, quarterly bonuses, health insurance and matching 401K for full-time employees and more.

To apply in person, go to 319 Ezell Pike in Nashville from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Interested applicants can also call 615-399-3000 or visit www.Progress-Inc.org.

Kelly Fisher, reporter for the Ashland City Times, can be reached at KPFisher@gannett.com, 615-801-3866 or on Twitter at @KellyPFisher.